Understanding Poetry
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In poetry the sound
and meaning of words
are combined to
express feelings,
thoughts, and ideas.
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Poetry Elements
Writers use many elements to create their
poems. These elements include:
Rhythm
 Sound
 Imagery
 Form
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Rhythm
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Gives poetry a musical
feel.
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Can be fast or slow,
depending on mood or
subject.
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You can measure rhythm
in meter, by counting the
beats in each line.
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Rhythm Example
Where Are You Now?
When the night begins to fall
And the sky begins to glow
You look up and see the tall
City of lights begin to grow –
In rows and little golden squares
The lights come out. First here, then there
Behind the windowpanes as though
A million billion bees had built
Their golden hives and honeycombs
Above you in the air.
The rhythm in this poem is
slow – to match the night
gently falling and the
lights slowly coming on.
By Mary Britton Miller
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Sound
Writers love to use interesting sounds in
their poems. After all, poems are meant to
be heard. These sound devices include:
Rhyme
 Repetition
 Alliteration
 Onomatopoeia
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Rhyme
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Rhymes are words that
end with the same sound.
(Hat, cat and bat rhyme.)
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Rhyming sounds don’t
have to be spelled the
same way. (Cloud and
allowed rhyme.)
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Rhyming Patterns
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Poets can choose from
a variety of different
rhyming patterns.
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AABB – lines 1 & 2 rhyme
and lines 3 & 4 rhyme
ABAB – lines 1 & 3 rhyme
and lines 2 & 4 rhyme
ABBA – lines 1 & 4 rhyme
and lines 2 & 3 rhyme
ABCB – lines 2 & 4 rhyme
and lines 1 & 3 do not
rhyme
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AABB Rhyming Pattern
First Snow
Snow makes whiteness where it falls.
The bushes look like popcorn balls.
And places where I always play,
Look like somewhere else today.
By Marie Louise Allen
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ABAB Rhyming Pattern
Oodles of Noodles
I love noodles. Give me oodles.
Make a mound up to the sun.
Noodles are my favorite foodles.
I eat noodles by the ton.
By Lucia and James L. Hymes, Jr.
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ABBA Rhyming Pattern
From “Bliss”
Let me fetch sticks,
Let me fetch stones,
Throw me your bones,
Teach me your tricks.
By Eleanor Farjeon
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ABCB Rhyming Pattern
The Alligator
The alligator chased his tail
Which hit him in the snout;
He nibbled, gobbled, swallowed it,
And turned right inside-out.
by Mary Macdonald
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Repetition
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Repetition occurs when
poets repeat words, phrases,
or lines in a poem.
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Strengthens feelings, ideas
and mood in a poem.
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Repetition Example
The Sun
Some one tossed a pancake,
A buttery, buttery, pancake.
Someone tossed a pancake
And flipped it up so high,
That now I see the pancake,
The buttery, buttery pancake,
Now I see that pancake
Stuck against the sky.
by Sandra Liatsos
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Alliteration
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Alliteration is the
repetition of the first
consonant sound in
words.
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“Peter Piper picked a
peck of pickled
peppers.”
The snake slithered silently
along the sunny sidewalk.
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Onomatopoeia
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Words that represent the
actual sound of something
are words of onomatopoeia.
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Dogs “bark,” cats “purr,”
thunder “booms,” rain
“drips,” and the clock “ticks.”
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Appeals to the sense of
sound.
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Imagery
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Imagery is the use of words
to create pictures, or images,
in your mind.
Appeals to the five senses:
smell, sight, hearing, taste
and touch.
Details about smells, sounds,
colors, and taste create
strong images.
To create vivid images
writers use figures of speech.
Five Senses
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Figure of Speech
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Figure of speech is what
writers use to create
images, or “paint
pictures,” in your mind.
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Similes, metaphors, and
personification are three
figures of speech that
create imagery.
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Simile
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A simile compares two
things using the words
“like” or “as.”
The runner streaked like a cheetah.
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Metaphor
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A metaphor compares
two things without using
the words “like” or “as.”
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Gives the qualities of one
thing to something that is
quite different.
The winter wind is a wolf
howling at the door.
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Personification
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Personification gives
human traits and
feelings to things that
are not human – like
animals or objects.
The moon smiled down at me.
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Forms of Poetry
There are many forms of poetry including the:
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Couplet
Tercet
Acrostic
Haiku
Concrete Poem
Free Verse
Limerick
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Lines and Stanzas
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Most poems are
written in lines.
A group of lines in
a poem is called a
stanza.
Stanzas separate
ideas in a poem.
They act like
paragraphs.
This poem has two
stanzas.
March
A blue day
A blue jay
And a good beginning.
One crow,
Melting snow –
Spring’s winning!
By Eleanor Farjeon
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Haiku
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A haiku is a Japanese
poem with 3 lines of 5, 7,
and 5 syllables. (Total of
17 syllables.)
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Does not rhyme.
Little frog among
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Is about an aspect of
nature or the seasons.
rain-shaken leaves, are you, too,
splashed with fresh, green paint?
by Gaki
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Concrete Poem
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A concrete poem (also
called shape poem) is
written in the shape of
its subject.
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The way the words are
arranged is as important
what they mean.
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Does not have to rhyme.
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Free Verse
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A free verse poem
does not use rhyme or
patterns.
Can vary freely in
length of lines,
stanzas, and subject.
Revenge
When I find out
who took
the last cooky
out of the jar
and left
me a bunch of
stale old messy
crumbs, I'm
going to take
me a handful
and crumb
up someone's bed.
By Myra Cohn Livingston
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Acrostic
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In an acrostic poem
the first letter of each
line, read down the
page, spells the
subject of the poem.
Type of free verse
poem.
Does not usually
rhyme.
Loose brown parachute
Escaping
And
Floating on puffs of air.
by Paul Paolilli
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Limerick
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A limerick is a funny
poem of 5 lines.
Lines 1, 2 & 5 rhyme.
Lines 3 & 4 are
shorter and rhyme.
Line 5 refers to line 1.
Limericks are a kind
of nonsense poem.
There Seems to Be a Problem
I really don’t know about Jim.
When he comes to our farm for a swim,
The fish as a rule,
jump out of the pool.
Is there something the matter with him?
By John Ciardi
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Your turn! Activity: Bio Poem
A Bio Poem is a
structured collection
of vivid details about
someone's life,
personality traits and
aspirations: a portrait
in words.
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